Usha Uthup, India’s undisputed icon of pop music, has enthralled an entire generation of listeners with her unforgettable voice and continues to do so. Completing fifty years as a professional singer in 2020 was just another milestone in her fabled career.
In “The Queen of Indian Pop” (Penguin), a vivid biography originally written in Hindi, Vikas Kumar Jha captures the entire arc of Uthup’s career in music. From her childhood days in Mumbai and her first gigs singing with jazz bands in Chennai’s glitzy nightclubs to her meteoric rise as India’s musical sensation and her philanthropic work, Jha covers it all and manages to weave a narrative that is colorful, inspiring, and bound to keep any reader engrossed till the end.
Uthup is known for such evergreen hits as ‘Hari Om Hari’, ‘Rambha Ho’ and ‘Jeete Hain Shaan Se’, and her voice transcends genres. When she takes the stage, in her elaborately designed saris and trademark bindis, she embodies a unique liveliness, unparalleled in the realm of Indian music. Jha meticulously explores Uthup’s sense of freedom, her struggles, and her constructive and creative attitude towards work and life.
This pitch-perfect English translation, by Srishti Jha, offers the reader a front-row seat to the life and times of the inimitable Usha Uthup.
“I’ve enjoyed a long and abiding friendship with Usha Uthup, and this book shares the gifts of her friendship with the world – her tenacity, charm, wit, and compassion are woven through its pages. Vikas Kumar Jha’s compelling narrative and immersive storytelling confirm what I have long known: Usha’s legacy is more than her extraordinary musical talent. It is also the grace, fearlessness, and wisdom with which she lives her life,” says parliamentarian and author Shashi Tharoor.
